Bullet resistant under garment

ABSTRACT

An undershirt type garment made of soft, absorbent, cotton-like material, having a front and a rear panel, of the same material, stitched thereto and covering the chest and abdomen areas and the back area of the wearer&#39;&#39;s torso. Inserted between each of the panels and the portions of the shirt which they cover, is a pad formed of a number of sheets of closely woven, heavy gage nylon thread. The sheets are stitched together and to the shirt generally along their outer edges so that the major portions of the sheets are generally free of positive securement to each other and thus may flex and move to some extent relative to each other. Thus, the garment, in the padded areas, is substantially bullet-proof and yet is lightweight, flexible, non-bulky and perspiration absorbent.

United States Patent Davis Dec. 24, 1974 BULLET RESISTANT UNDER GARMENT [57] ABSTRACT [76] Inventor Richard C. Davis, BOX 58 Muckle An undershirt type garment made of soft, absorbent, Central Lake, Mich- 49622 cotton-like material, having a front and a rear panel, d: 1974 of the same material, stitched thereto and covering the [22] Fl 6 Jan chest and abdomen areas and the back area of the PP bio-1431379 wearers torso. Inserted between each of the panels and the portions of the shirt which they cover, is a pad formed of a number of sheets of closely woven, heavy 52 US. Cl. 2 2.5 E A hm CL F4l m2 gage nylon thread. The sheets are stitched together [58] Field ot'z 'rc'rjjjjjijjf "2753?2' 11'2/402 405 the th the thrrt eererehy there their edge to 1 5 1 that the major portions of the sheets are generally free of positive securement to each other and thus may flex [56] References Cited and move to some extent relative to each other. Thus,

the garment, in the padded areas, is substantially bul- UNITED STATES PATENTS let-proof and yet is lightweight, flexible, non-bulky 2/2.5 X andfiperspiration absorbent 3,577,836 5/1971 Tamura .r 3,582,988 6/1971 Armellino... 3,783,449 1/1974 Davis 2/2 5 Primary ExaminerH. Hampton Hunter Cantor qmex 452i 9;! '021- Cu l nascttlctsloman & r

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDUECZMBH FIGZ FIG.5

FIGB

BULLET RESISTANT UNDER GARMENT BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Bulletproof vests and similar types of body protective armor which have been available in the past, have been relatively heavy, bulky and uncomfortable to wear for any prolonged period of time. The bulk and sizes of such devices, particularly, have made them difficult, if not impossible to conceal beneath the clothes of the wearer.

Thus, there has been a need for an effective body protective armor, particularly for the vital organs of the body, which can be worn as a garment concealed beneath the wearers outer garment and sufficiently comfortable and lightweight to be worn for long periods of time. Such a device is particularly useful for police officers, both in uniform and operating in civilian clothing so that they are protective while on duty.

Thus, the invention herein relates to a body protective armor or bulletproof garment formed as an under garment, as for example, a conventional appearing undershirt or T-shirt, and is an improvement in certain respects to the armor disclosed in my prior copending application, Ser. No. 251,077 of May 8, 1972 now US. Pat. No. 3,783,449, dated Jan. 8, 1974.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION The invention herein relates to a bulletproof or bullet resistant under garment, which may be formed like a conventional mens undershirt or T-shirt, having bulletproof pads secured therein to cover and protect the front and rear of the wearers torso. The pad consists of a number of sheets of closely woven nylon thread fabric of a relatively heavy denier, such as 1050 denier, which sheets are formed in several groups of different sizes. The groups are centered upon each other, with each group secured to the next by stitching along the edge areas and with one larger sheet covering all the groups and having a border portion stitched to the body of the garment as well as to a panel which covers the pad and is formed of the same material as the garment.

Because of the limited ability of each sheet to flex and move relative to the others, and the number of sheets used, as for example, approximately 12 to 18 sheets, the pad will stop most bullets even when fired at point-blank range.

With the pad being relatively thin and non-bulky and particularly with the different sized groups forming a feathered type edging for the pad, overall flexibility and concealment is obtained. Moreover, where the garment is made of an absorbent material, such as a cotton-like material, it is relatively soft to the touch, both inside and outside, as well as perspiration absorbent so that it may be comfortably worn for long periods of time even during hot weather. Thus, with only a small amount of added bulk, as compared to a conventional undershirt, the wearer may wear the garment beneath his ordinary outer shirt or other outer garments, with the bullet protective device concealed. Hence, it will function to protect the wearer, such as police officers, against unexpected gunshots knife thrusts and the like, at least in the areas of essential body organs.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following description, of which the attached drawings form a part.

' DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates the garment herein worn upon a person.

FIG. 2 illustrates an elevational view of the garment,

per se.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, cross-sectional fragmentary view taken in the direction of arrows 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, cross-sectional, perspective view of a portion of the garment similar to that shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the assembly of the various parts making up the garment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional appearing T-shirt under garment 10 worn by a person and covering particularly the torso. The front cloth part 1 1 which covers the front of the body, is provided with a protected area 12 covering essentially the vital organs of the torso, such as the heart, lungs, abdomen, etc. Preferably, the rear of the garment is made identically to the front, and therefore, to avoid repetition, only the front is illustrated.

Overlapping the inner surface of the protected area is an inner panel l3 preferably made of the same material as the garment, such as a cotton-like absorbent material as is typically used for under garments.

Between the inner panel 13 and the front part 11 of the garment is arranged a bulletproof pad 14. Such pad is formed of a number of sheets, each consisting of a closely or tightly woven fabric made of relatively heavy gage nylon thread, such as for example, 1050 denier, which thread may be stretch-oriented before weaving.

The sheets are arranged in face-to-face contact and formed in groups, with the sheets in each group being of the same size, but the groups being of differnt size. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the sheets are formed in three separate groups, namely, larger group 15, middle size group 16 and smaller size group 17 with the groups centered one upon the other to leave an edge border of the larger group relative to the next smaller group.

While the number of sheets in each group may vary, they may be somewhere on the order of four to six sheets per group to give an overall thickness of 12 to 18 sheets approximately.

Overlying all of the groups is a larger inner sheet 18 which is the same size, approximately, as the cloth inner panel 13 of the garment.

The sheets in each group are preferably fastened together by loose stitches near their edges which also fastens one group to the next. For example, stitches 19 secure groups 16 and 17 together; stitches 20 secure groups 16 and 15 together, and stitches 21 secure the larger sheet 18 to group 21.

The border of the larger sheet 18 is secured to the peripheral edge of the inner panel 13 as well as to the cloth front part 11 of the garment by means of stitching 22. Thus, from the outside, all that can be seen is the row of stitches 22 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, with the remaining stitches being concealed within the garment.

It is desirable to permit the sheets to flex and move in a planar direction relative to each other, and therefore, it is preferable to use the minimum amount of stitching necessary to hold the various parts together and preferably to avoid all stitching or other fastening within the main body of the sheets so that the sheets are substantially free of positive securement to each other except to the limited extent necessary along their outer edges. FIG. 5 schematically illustrates the groups of sheets and the securement therebetween with the dotted lines symbolizing the lines of stitching.

With this construction, very little additional weight is added to the garment and the padding is concealed within the garment so that the front and rear of the garment appear conventional and are relatively smooth as in the case of conventional garments. However, the garment is made of absorbent material and will func tion to absorb perspiration and will be smooth and flexible, despite some limitation on flexibility in the padded areas, so that it may be comfortably worn even in warm weather, for long periods of time.

Having fully described an operative embodiment of this invention, 1 now claim:

1. A bullet resistant garment, such as a conventional undershirt for wearing upon and covering a human torso, comprising:

a cloth panel overlapping the front portion of the garment body and arranged to cover generally the chest and abdomen portions of the torso;

a bullet resistant pad arranged between the panel and the overlapped garment portion and formed of a number of sheets of tightly woven fabric formed of a heavy gage nylon type thread;

such sheets being fastened together, as by stitching, generally along their edge areas and otherwise being substantially free of positive securement together for limited individual flexing and planar movement of each sheet relative to the other sheets;

at least one of the sheets having an edge portion extending outwardly of the perimeter of the pad and said edge portion together with the overlapping edge portion of the panel being fastened to the overlapped portions of the garment for thereby securing the panel, pad and garment body together;

whereby said garment is relatively lightweight, flexible, non-bulky and may be concealed within outer garments and is substantially bulletproof at the pad.

2. A construction as defined in claim 1, and said garment and the panel being formed of an absorbent, cotton-like material for absorbing perspiration, as well as for giving a soft feel to the inner and outer surfaces of the garment, particularly in the padded portion thereof.

3. A construction as defined in claim 1, and said pad being formed of groups of sheets, with each group being of slightly successively smaller size and centered on and fastened near its edges to the next larger size group, and with said one sheet being of a size larger than all of the groups so that its peripheral edges define a border around the pad for providing said one sheet edge portion.

4. A construction as defined in claim 3, and with the groups arranged in descending size order, with the larg est size against the garment body and the smallest size most remote from the garment body, and with said largest sheet overlapping the smallest size group in face-toface contact therewith, and having its border secured, as by stitches, only to the edges of the largest size sheet group and with its securement to the panel and garment being by stitches arranged outside of the periphery of the stitches to which it is secured to said largest size group.

5. A construction as defined in claim 3, and said pad and panel being arranged upon the inside surface of the body of the garment. 

1. A bullet resistant garment, such as a conventional undershirt for wearing upon and covering a human torso, comprising: a cloth panel overlapping the front portion of the garment body and arranged to cover generally the chest and abdomen portions of the torso; a bullet resistant pad arranged between the panel and the overlapped garment portion and formed of a number of sheets of tightly woven fabric formed of a heavy gage nylon type thread; such sheets being fastened together, as by stitching, generally along their edge areas and otherwise being substantially free of positive securement together for limited individual flexing and planar movement of each sheet relative to the other sheets; at least one of the sheets having an edge portion extending outwardly of the perimeter of the pad and said edge portion together with the overlapping edge portion of the panel being fastened to the overlapped portions of the garment for thereby securing the panel, pad and garment body together; whereby said garment is relatively lightweight, flexible, nonbulky and may be concealed within outer garments and is substantially bulletproof at the pad.
 2. A construction as defined in claim 1, and said garment and the panel being formed of an absorbent, cotton-like material for absorbing perspiration, as well as for giving a soft feel to the inner and outer surfaces of the garment, particularly in the padded portion thereof.
 3. A construction as defined in claim 1, and said pad being formed of groups of sheets, with each group being of slightly successively smaller size and centered on and fastened near its edges to the next larger size group, and with said one sheet being of a size larger than all of the groups so that its peripheral edges define a border around the pad for providing said one sheet edge portion.
 4. A construction as defined in claim 3, and with the groups arranged in descending size order, with the largest size against the garment body and the smallest size most remote from the garment body, and with said largest sheet overlapping the smallest size group in face-to-face contact therewith, and having its border secured, as by stitches, only to the edges of the largest size sheet group and with its securement to the panel and garment being by stitches arranged outside of the periphery of the stitches to which it is secured to said largest size group.
 5. A construction as defined in claim 3, and said pad and panel being arranged upon the inside surface of the body of the garment. 